Cyberpunk 2077, the Phantom Liberty expansion and Cyberpunk 2077 have sold more than 38 million copies

Cyberpunk 2077 is a great example of a gaming comeback story. CD Projekt Red had just released the excellent Witcher 3 and had all the money and time in the world. Hell, they even had Keanu reeves. The anticipation and expectation was sky-high.

Then it was launched. Cyberpunk 2077 was riddled with bugs, and while it was undeniably beautiful and full of one-off moments, it also had many underbaked systems, and wasn't the great leap forward for RPG design that many hoped for. It was a disaster, but PC players were comparatively lucky: Sony removed the game from sale (if only temporarily) because it was in such a bad state when it launched on PlayStation.

This was in 2020. CDPR devs have since spoken of how "crushed the studio was" by the reception, but with the luxury and time it had, it was also able to launch a determined effort for Cyberpunk 2077, which acted as "group counseling." CDPR then began to address the game's issues and make improvements, each step leading to 2023's Phantom Liberty. PCG's Ted Litchfield called this "a thrilling culmination for Cyberpunk's 3-year redemption arc."

Cyberpunk 2077 was never a problem in terms of sales. The game made back its development budget the first day. In this case, virtue has been CDPR's reward. The studio announced today that Cyberpunk has sold more than 30 million copies and Phantom Liberty an additional 8 million.

Cyberpunk 2077 is now in exclusive company and has a chance to crack the top 20 of all-time in terms of sales. It's a long way off from the Witcher 3 which, at the last official count, had sold north 50 million copies. But who knows what the future holds?

CDPR doesn't seem to have any trouble keeping the lights on. The studio's financial call provided some brief updates about the future slate. Cyberpunk 2 is still in development across CD Projekt studios. But the big news was that the next Witcher, codenamed "Polaris", has entered full production.

Piotr Nelubowicz, chief financial officer at CD Projekt, said: "I am pleased to announce that [Polaris] has moved into full-scale production several weeks ago." "This is the most advanced project of all ours, and we are now entering the most intensive development phase." I want to thank the team and keep my fingers crossed that we will continue to make progress.